Coverage Study of a Sustainable IoT System for Industrial Applications

Abstract

Internet of Things (IoT) devices are very useful to monitor information in industrial scenarios even in areas which have difficult or impossible access through traditional wired connections. Reliable wireless communications can be challenging in industrial environments, where the communications signal is often blocked due to the presence of industrial machinery, with possible intermittent and/or unpredictable blockages. This paper evaluates the coverage characteristics of a low-cost sustainable IoT deployment to monitor an industrial facility dedicated to the design and assembly of automation systems for the food industry. For this purpose, a measurement campaign has been carried out at different points of the industrial site using the aforementioned IoT system. The results show that the system is able to provide enough coverage around the whole area, with a reduced number of outages. Substantial differences in terms of received power and outages are observed when comparing the measurements in a totally empty area and an area with machinery and workers. Finally, the received power measurements have been fitted to a simplified pathloss model, showing a pathloss exponent value consistent with previously reported values for industrial environments.